Sailorpluto: Duty
by JNKryo
Summary: Just who is Sailorpluto?


Disclaimers: Sailormoon and Sailorpluto and everything affiliated with them   
  
are the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Dic, and many other big   
  
name people and companies with lots of money and lots of lawyers. I do not   
  
own them so don't sue me, I'm only borrowing them for a little while.  
  
  
  
Author's notes: This is my first finished story that I'm posting. I have   
  
other stories that I'm working on, but decided to write this short fic so I   
  
can actually post something up. There's not much action in it, but I hope   
  
that doesn't scare anybody off.  
  
  
  
[Just a bit of clarification, when I speak of Pluto or Lord Pluto, I am   
  
referring to the god. When I speak of Sailor Pluto, I will write here name   
  
as Sailorpluto, the way they do it in Japan.]  
  
  
  
Sailorpluto: Duty  
  
by Johnny Ng   
  
rated: G  
  
  
  
"Why do I do it? I don't know why," the woman answers, then she   
  
pauses as if contemplating a different answer. "Then again, maybe I do."  
  
She walks forward, the mists parting around her, and reaches a   
  
portal. Lifting her staff, the gem on the top glows and the portal opens   
  
revealing a scene out of time.  
  
"What you are seeing now is the beginning, the beginning of   
  
everything...for me."  
  
  
  
A baby girl with a tuft of dark green hair is feeding at her mother's   
  
breast. The infant has her eyes closed and a content look on her face. Soon   
  
she stops suckling and falls asleep.  
  
The mother smiles and begins to rock slowly. "Oh my precious   
  
daughter, you are so beautiful." A pained expression crosses her face. "I   
  
don't know how many more times I can hold you like this. So young, and so   
  
powerful."  
  
She gets up and places her daughter gently into her crib. "How I   
  
wish I could carry the burden for you, but your destiny has been written,   
  
and an awful destiny it is. I fear you will know pain and suffering,   
  
sadness and loss long before you ever experience any happiness."  
  
Suddenly there is a flash of light and a man appears in the room.   
  
He is a tall man dressed in night-black armor. He strides silently to the   
  
woman who prostrates herself before him.  
  
"Greetings, Lord Pluto," the woman begins, addressing the god, "What   
  
can I-"  
  
*It is time.*  
  
The woman blinks and her throat suddenly dries up. "I beg your   
  
pardon, Lord?"  
  
*It is time.*  
  
"But, Lord, so soon?" the woman pleads.  
  
Pluto simply stares at the woman. *Give me the child.*  
  
The woman falters under Lord Pluto's gaze and meekly goes to the   
  
crib. Lifting her daughter up slowly so as not to wake her she walks slowly   
  
towards the god.   
  
Pluto's hands are outstretched waiting for the child. The woman   
  
hesitates and with a muffled sob, places her daughter into those waiting   
  
hands.  
  
Lord Pluto nods imperceptibly. *You have done well my priestess.   
  
Fear not for your child. She will be well cared for. She will accomplish   
  
great deeds for she is to be my chosen avatar.*  
  
"W...will I ever see her again?"  
  
A ghost of a smile seems to cross Pluto's face. *Perhaps...in   
  
time.* Then he and the child are gone.  
  
When they disappear, the woman finally breaks down and cries in   
  
earnest as heaving sobs wrack her body.  
  
  
  
The portal closes as the scene ends.   
  
"Yes, that was the beginning. Not a day passes that I don't think   
  
about my mother." She moves off into the mists. "That was indeed the god,   
  
Pluto. None of the other Senshi were chosen like I was, but you see, I was   
  
the only one that could do the task set before me. It was my destiny, and   
  
it was not my place to tamper with destiny."   
  
A small smile graces her lips. "At least not yet."  
  
She soon arrives at another portal. "Mother was right. I got to   
  
know sadness and loss too soon and too much..."  
  
As before, the portal opens with a wave of her staff.  
  
  
  
The Gate of Time. Sailorpluto is staring off into a portal. She   
  
sighs. "Is there no other way?" she asks the mists around her. Not   
  
expecting an answer, she is therefore startled to receive one.  
  
*My dear, you have seen the future and the consequences that will   
  
occur.*  
  
"Lord Pluto," Sailorpluto addresses, "I wasn't aware that you were   
  
listening in."  
  
*Really? Then you must be getting careless.*  
  
Sailorpluto makes a noncommittal noise before she speaks, "But Lord,   
  
is there no other way?"  
  
*I'm afraid not, my child.*  
  
"Then what must I do?"  
  
*You already know what you are to do.*  
  
Sailorpluto lowers her head. "Yes, I do, though it pains me   
  
greatly."  
  
*Such is the burden you bear. Farewell my child. Have comfort   
  
that I am always by your side.*  
  
With Lord Pluto's departure, no one is left to hear the sobs of his   
  
avatar.  
  
  
  
The scene shifts to show Sailorpluto standing on a balcony in the   
  
Moon Palace. Tears are snaking their way down her cheeks as she watches a   
  
dark cloud gathering on the horizon. She raises her staff, creating a   
  
teleportation portal. Before she steps through, she whispers two words,   
  
"I'm sorry..."  
  
As Sailorpluto teleports away, the first of Metallia's troops, led by   
  
Queen Beryl, reach the gates of the Moon Palace. The destruction of the Moon   
  
Kingdom and the fall of the Silver Millenium have begun.  
  
  
  
As before, the scene ends and the portal closes.  
  
"I foresaw the attack on the Moon Kingdom," she explains, "I could   
  
have warned Queen Serenity. Beryl and Metallia could have been stopped."   
  
She grips her staff tighter, her knuckles whiten under the strain.   
  
"But I couldn't," she forces out, "If I had, the Moon Kingdom would have   
  
been saved, but...." Taking a deep breath, she calms down before continuing,  
  
"The Silver Millenium was a paradise, but it was also becoming a trap. It   
  
was a time of infinite peace and goodness. That was the problem.   
  
"The universe is about balance. Any extremes, whether they be of   
  
good or bad, breeds prejudice, intolerance, and fanaticism. The people of   
  
the Moon Kingdom were starting to believe that since they were the epitome of   
  
goodness, everyone should be like them. If the Silver Millenium did not   
  
fall, the Moon Kingdom would have been a place of peace, but of a peace that   
  
was forced on the people. The monarchs of the Moon Kingdom would rule with   
  
an iron fist, squashing rebellion and those people that they didn't deem as   
  
'good' enough."  
  
Sighing, she moves further into the mists. "So I stood by and did   
  
nothing."   
  
She comes to another portal. This one, though, is different from the   
  
others. Whereas all the previous portals have had a faint glow in them, this   
  
one is totally black.   
  
She stands before it and gazes at it almost hungrily. "This," she   
  
says longingly, "is the final portal. This is the portal that reveals to me   
  
my freedom...my death." She gives it one last look before turning away. "It   
  
was a gift to me from Lord Pluto after the fall of the Silver Millenium."   
  
She stops to collect her thoughts.   
  
"After the fall, I felt as though I had nothing to live for. All my   
  
friends, my loved ones...everyone I cared about were gone, all because of   
  
me." She turns back to the portal. "And I longed to join them."  
  
She gestures to the side and a separate portal appears.  
  
  
  
The Earth hangs low in the sky. The light reflected from the planet   
  
gleams off the ruins of the Moon Palace. Alone, Sailorpluto sits   
  
disconsolately amid broken marble blocks, crying softly into her hands.  
  
Someone, a man, appears beside her. *My avatar, why do you grieve   
  
so?*  
  
A soft sigh escapes Sailorpluto's lips. "All this death, all this   
  
destruction. I never thought it would be like this."  
  
Lord Pluto puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. *Nevertheless,   
  
you did the right thing. You performed your duties--*  
  
Sailorpluto whirls to face Pluto, her face a mask of rage. "Do not   
  
speak to me of my duty!" She stands, her hands trembling. "You have no   
  
right to speak to me about my duty!"  
  
*Child, hold your tongue or else you might say something that you   
  
will regret later.*  
  
"It is too late for that, Lord," Sailorpluto says bitterly, "Much too   
  
late." Then drawing a shuddering breath, she continues in a small voice,   
  
"If being your avatar means standing aside and watching as those you care   
  
about die, then I no longer wish to be your avatar."  
  
It is a long while before Pluto answers. *I am afraid I can't allow   
  
that. You and you alone can be my chosen avatar. It is your destiny.*  
  
Sailorpluto turns to face her lord, tears streaming down her cheeks.   
  
"It may be my destiny, but it is also my prison."  
  
Unknowingly, Pluto puts his arm around his avatar. Sensing this,   
  
Sailorpluto reacts instinctively and throws her arms around the god's body,   
  
burying her head against his chest. Lord Pluto stands there silently,   
  
letting the woman cry, his own eyes starting to mist over.  
  
*I understand your grief, child. It is hard for me as well. I know   
  
I can't do much to make it up to you, but I will grant you one boon, within   
  
reason.*  
  
"Right now, there is only one thing that I want, the thing that I   
  
have always wanted."  
  
Lord Pluto frowns. *I know, but I cannot give that to you.* He sees  
  
his avatar is about to object. *However, I will give you this.* The god   
  
gestures and a portal appears. Unlike other portals that Sailorpluto is   
  
familiar with though, this one is completely black.  
  
"What is it, my lord?"  
  
*This portal will show you your greatest desires. Just look into   
  
it and you will see what you have always longed for.*  
  
Sailorpluto moves closer to the dark portal. "You mean it will show   
  
me-"  
  
The god nods. *Yes, even that.*  
  
Immediately, she kneels before her lord. "Thank you for this gift,   
  
Lord Pluto. It is more than I hoped for."  
  
Pluto stands back, once again every inch a god. *You may thank me   
  
now, but I caution you against using it. One should not know too much about   
  
their future, especially one such as you.*  
  
The god then turns around and disappears in a flash of light, leaving   
  
Sailorpluto alone among the shattered remnants of the palace, with the portal   
  
hanging silently by her side.  
  
  
  
With a wave, the portal is gone.  
  
"I have used the black portal," she says matter-of-factly, "I have   
  
seen my death many times." She smiles ruefully, "But it is never the same...  
  
never the same!"  
  
She swings her staff wildly, dispelling portals and mists left and   
  
right. "Every single time I look I see a different death! It's not supposed   
  
to be like that. I am the Guardian of Time. My destiny should be set. I   
  
should know my future!"  
  
Her staff stops in mid-arc and it disappears as she recalls it. "I   
  
should know my future...," she continues quietly, "but I do not. I know   
  
that I am going to die, but not when or how." She smiles. "And that gives   
  
me hope. Hope that not everything in my life has been predetermined,   
  
predestined, or preordained; that I can still control some aspects of my   
  
life." She stands up straight, resolve hardening in her eyes. "I may be a   
  
servant to Time, but I am not its slave!"  
  
She turns and slowly walks back into the mists. "You asked earlier   
  
why do I do what I do?" She stops. Her head still facing forward, she   
  
answers softly, "Ask me again...some other time."  
  
  
  
The End.  
  
  
  
  
  
Endnotes: Well, what did you think? Keep in mind that this is my first   
  
completed Sailor Moon story that I am posting. Email your thoughts,   
  
comments, and criticisms to engjng@worldnet.att.net  
  
I would really like some feedback. Thanks for reading!  
  



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